Sign holder

ABSTRACT

A sign holder is provided having a clip formed of a base member and a spring pressed clamping member. The base and clamping members have openings and sign-puncturing pins which project into the aforesaid openings. Mounting means is provided for securing the clip in a selected position near the products which are priced and/or advertised by the sign.

United States Patent Kostiuk 51 Apr. 24, 1973 [5 1 SIGN HOLDER 1,493,072 5 1924 Fricker ..40/11 R x [76] inventor: Peter Kostiuk, Box 1798, Williams 1348950 3/1932 Hammer Lake British Coumbia Canada 2,499,188 2/1950 Freeman ..40/11 R 3,324,585 6/1967 Frederickson ..40/1 1 R [22] Filed: Sept. 3, 1970 App]. No.: 69,403

[52] U.S. Cl. ..40/11 R [51] Int. Cl ..G09f 3/18 [58] Field of Search ..40/10, 11, 11 A, 40/23 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,490,882 4/1924 Anderson ..40/11 R X 1,701,770 2/1929 Canine 2,329,974 9/1943 Bennett ..40/11 R X 286,430 10/1883 Hall ..40/23 Primary ExaminerRobert W. Michell Assistant ExaminerWenceslao J. Contreras Attorney--Fetherstonhaugh and Co.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A sign holder is provided having a clip formed of a base member and a spring pressed clamping member. The base and clamping members have openings and sign-puncturing pins which project into the aforesaid openings. Mounting means is provided for securing the clip in a selected position near the products which are priced and/or advertised by the sign.

1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures Patented April 24, 1973 3,728,806

2 Sheets-Sheet l \NVENTOR PETER KOS TIUK Mam/My! 1 6a ATTORNEYS Patehted April 24, 1973 3,728,806

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR PE TE R K 08 TIUK Win/h1g4 4Z2 ATTORNE 5 SIGN HOLDER My invention relates to a holder which is particularly intended for use in supporting a sign or tag of the type used to attract the attention of a shopper and inform him of the price of certain wares.

In supermarkets, dry good stores and the like, it is common practice to attach small price tags to the shelves in front of the goods and very often these signs are secured to the the shelves with cellulose tape. The taping of the signs to the shelves occupies an undesirable amount of a clerks time and the result is not too satisfactory. For example, tape marks the shelves and repeated applications will sometimes lift the paint or otherwise mar the finished appearance of the shelf. The sign itself may be torn away by a careless shopper or the tape may dry out and peel away from the shelf so that the sign drops to the floor and leaves the goods unmarked. Because of the presence of moisture caused by condensation, merchandising freezers and dairy cases will not readily accept adhesive tape and some other means must be found for attaching price signs and the like.

I have overcome the disadvantages of taped signs by providing a simple, compact holder which will retain all types of card and paper signs presently being used by food and dry good stores. The holder is attached either directly to the shelves or to the goods and, in either case, the signs can quickly and easily be snapped into the holder so as to be securely held in a particularly advantageous position. The task of changing price signs, or of moving them from one location to another according to the arrangement of the products on the shelves, is greatly facilitated by the present holder which saves a considerable amount ofa clerks time.

In drawings which illustrate several embodiments of the present invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of the sign holder,

FIG. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the sign holder secured to a store shelf, the shelf being shown in section, and

FIGS. 4 to 7 are perspective views of modifications of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 indicates generally a preferred form of the sign holder comprising a clip 11 and mounting means 12 for attaching the clip to the shelf on which merchandise is displayed. Preferably, both the clip 1 1 and the mounting means 12 are stamped out of stainless spring steel and the two parts are secured together by rivets 14.

The clip 11 comprises a rectangular base plate 17 which has openings 18 and 19 formed therein. Clip 11 is provided with a clamping bar 21 which is secured to the base plate 17 by resilient means 23. The narrow elongated clamping bar 21 extends across outer face 25 of the base plate 17, the bar being provided with longitudinally spaced pins 27 and 28 which are bent inwardly at right angles to said bar and said outer face of the base plate. The pins 27 and 28, which preferably are triangular-shaped as shown best in FIG. 2, project through the circular openings 18 and 19 formed in the base plate. Clamping bar 21 has a free end 30 which projects a short distance beyond adjacent end edge 31 of the base plate. This free end 30 provides a finger grip by which the bar 21 can be pressed outwardly away from the base plate 25 and against the pressure which is applied by the resilient means 23.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the resilient means 23 comprises a bend 34 which is integrally formed with the base plate 1'7 and bar 21 since the clip is stamped from a single sheet of metal. Vertical crimps 35 are formed at suitably spaced intervals around the circumference of the bend 34, these crimps serving to stiffen the metal and to shape said bend so that the clamping bar 21 normally is held firmly in contact with the outer face 25 for a greater part of the length of said bar.

The mounting means generally indicated at 12 comprises a bracket 40 which is rectangular as viewed in front elevation (FIG. 1) and generally C-shaped when seen from the side (FIG. 3). The stainless steel material which is shaped in this fashion provides a flexible bracket 40 having a vertically disposed front wall 41 and side walls 42 and 43 which diverge rearwardly as shown best in FIG. 3. Walls 42 and 43 have upper and lower marginal edges 44 and 45 respectively which are bent away from said walls so that they are substantially parallel to one another and to the front wall 41.

Referring again to FIG. 3, the numeral 50 indicates a shelf of the type commonly found in supermarkets and the like. Shelf 50 has an outer edge 51 which is fitted with a conventional molding strip 54, the strip being provided with opposing channels 55 and 56. To secure holder 10 to shelf 50, the side walls 42 and 43 are sprung together slightly so that the marginal edges 44 and 45 thereof can enter between the channels 55 and 56 when the bracket 40 is placed in contact with the molding strip 54. When these slightly compressed walls 42 and 43 subsequently are released, the edges 44 and 45 spring into the channels 55 and 56 whereupon the sign holder 10 is securely attached to the molding strip 54 carried by the shelf 50. If desired, the sign holder 10 can be moved along the molding strip 54 to any required location by simply sliding it endwise without actually removing it from this strip.

Holder 10 is adapted to hold a printed sign 60, see FIG. 3 only, which sign normally is a rectangular sheet of paper or light cardboard which has a space for entering the current price of the articles on the shelf 50. The store clerk secures this paper sign 60 to the holder 10 by entering the tip of one finger behind the free end 30 of the clamping bar 21 so that said bar can be bent outwardly to the dotted line position shown in FIG. 2. Sign 60 is inserted between the bar 21 and the plate 17 and is suitably positioned with respect to the holder 10 and the shelf. The bar 21 is then released so that it snaps by spring pressure into contact with the sign 60. This snapping action drives the pins 27 and 28 through the paper whereupon the sign 6% is firmly locked to the holder 10.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the numeral 65 indicates generally a modified mounting means for clip 11. The mounting means 65 illustrated in FIG. 4 comprises a bracket 66 which is constructed in the same manner as the previously described bracket. Secured to wall 67 of this bracket by means of rivets 68, is a hanger 70 which is disposed at right angles to said bracket front wall. Hanger 70 has a depending flange 71 which is secured to the base plate 17 of the clip 1 1 by means of rivets 72.

A sign 60 is secured to the clip 11 carried by the mounting means 65 in the previously described manner, the sign of this case being supported at right angles to the front edge 51 of the shelf and fairly widely spaced therefrom. Thus, the sign 60 can readily be viewed by someone walking up a supermarket aisle with his eyes on the shelves to one side. It will be noted that the hanger 70 can be of any desired shape, for example, it can be an outwardly curving rod (not shown) so that the sign 60 will be widely spaced from, and positioned above, the shelf. The inner end of such a rod would be secured to the bracket 66 and the outer end thereof would be riveted to the clip 11.

Referring to the modification illustrated in FIG. 5, the numeral 80 indicates a mounting means which comprises simply a bar magnet 81. Rivets 82 secure the base plate 17 of the clip 11 to the bar magnet 81 which then can be used to attach said clip to a metal object such as a fruit or biscuit can which may be stacked on the shelf 50.

in the FIG. 6 modification, the numeral 85 indicates generally mounting means comprising an adhesive pad 86 secured to a metal disc 87. The base plate 17 of the clip is secured to the disc 87 by rivets 88. This embodiment of the invention is suitable for use in attaching a sign 60 to non-magnetic store fixtures and to glass. For example, a large sign can be attached to a store window using one of these sign holders at each comer of the sign.

Referring to FIG. 7, still another mounting means 90 is provided for the clip 11. The mounting means generally indicated at 90 comprises a tongue 91 which is also preferably formed of stainless steel. The tongue 91 has a pointed inner end 92 and a vertically disposed outer flange 93 which is secured to the base plate 17 by rivets 94. Mounting means 90 is used to attach a sign 60 to a tier of packages for example, and this is done by entering the tongue 91 between abutting ends of two of the packages. The mounting means 90 allows the sign to be moved about on the display tier as required whereby the sign can be positioned where it is most likely to attract the attention of shoppers.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent l have provided a variety of sign holders which will suit about any requirement of a supermarket or other store. The clips 11 of each embodiment permit ready installation and removal of price type tag signs and the holders are readily moved about on a shelf from one group of products to another. Customers can remove products from the shelves for examination or purchase and can replace them if necessary without displacing or damaging the holders or the signs. The signs are held firmly in an upright position which enablesthe reading material carried by the sign to be read quite easily by passing shoppers.

I claim:

1. A sign holder comprising a clip having a base member, a relatively narrow clamping bar, a resilient bend securing an end of the clamping bar to an adjacent end edge of the base member, said clamping bar extending horizontally across the base member adjacent and parallel to a lower edge thereof and having a free end projecting beyond an adjacent end edge of said base member to form a finger grip, said base member having longitudinally spaced openings suban upper edge of the clampstantially registering with ing bar, said clamping bar having transverse pins normally projecting through the openings, said base member and clamping bar being adapted to grip a sign entered therebetween to be punctured by the transverse pins, said resilient bend supporting a major portion of the length of the clamping bar in contact with the sign, mounting means secured to the base member for supporting the clip in a sign-displaying position and comprising a bracket having a front wall, a hanger projecting outwardly perpendicular to the front wall, means fastening an inner end of the hanger to the front wall, and means fastening the base member to the bracket. 

1. A sign holder comprising a clip having a base member, a relatively narrow clamping bar, a resilient bend securing an end of the clamping bar to an adjacent end edge of the base member, said clamping bar extending horizontally across the base member adjacent and parallel to a lower edge thereof and having a free end projecting beyond an adjacent end edge of said base member to form a finger grip, said base member having longitudinally spaced openings substantially registering with an upper edge of the clamping bar, said clamping bar having transverse pins normally projecting through the openings, said base member and clamping bar being adapted to grip a sign entered therebetween to be punctured by the transverse pins, said resilient bend supporting a major portion of the length of the clamping bar in contact with the sign, mounting means secured to the base member for supporting the clip in a sign-displaying position and comprising a bracket having a front wall, a hanger projecting outwardly perpendicular to the front wall, means fastening an inner end of the hanger to the front wall, and means fastening the base member to the bracket. 